Mind The Gap- An audible of visual warning phrase used to warn people to proceed with caution while entering a station platform.
Mind the gap is also a good phrase to use when approaching the every day topics that swirl in our society. The spatial gap between Christians and Non-Christians.
Open Minded and Close Minded.
We are told to be Open Minded to new ideas, thoughts, feelings, actions, and lifestyles. We are told to accept everything and reject nothing. We are scoffed when we disagree with what the world says is acceptable. We are made to feel wrong when we choose to say no in a world of yes.
As a Christian in today's society it is increasingly harder to know where you should stand and what battles are worth fighting. Love the sinner, hate the sin. We all know that phrase but what does that look like? How are we suppose to navigate a series of, what feels like traps, in a way that honor Christ but reflect our faith?
I wish I had the answer but I don't. Some days I feel like I got it right and the things I said to someone have clicked. Then there are other days when the choices I make because of my faith are so outwardly condemned I start to question my motives and actions.
As a Christian I have chosen to live a life worthy of Christ and with that choice there are actions/lifestyles/ideas that I cannot knowingly accept and still confidently walk in Christ. For the first time in my life I feel the weight of free will on my chest. I struggle daily with the thought of how much easier it would be to just live my life and not worry about how the rest of the world is fairing.
Judgement is another word that is so quickly used today as well. Bible verses are being thrown around by those who know nothing about those who wrote the Bible, why it was written, or the Bible as a whole. Christians are being attacked by the very tool that was meant to provide comfort, power, and refuge. The moment a Christian has an opinion that differs from the world we are judging and we are close minded. I don't know how to fix that and I don't have all the answers. All I have is what my heart struggles with daily and what God is doing to help me through this life.
This may come as a shock to some of you but as a Christian we should expect to face adversity and we should come to understand that there is a reason the world hates us disagreeing with it. We were made for something more.
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” - C.S. Lewis
The most recent uproar lately has been revolving around the transgender lifestyle and course Bruce Jenner. Bruce Jenner has been called a hero for his outward expression of an inward struggle. Yes you read that right...inward struggle...because I feel that is what is happening. An inward struggle to find his place in the world and for people struggling, our world today offers what seem to be answers. People who struggle grasp for anything and for his struggle the label hero has been given. Call me crazy but hero isn't the word that comes to my mind.
The only word I see that ring true to this situation and issue is "weakness"...being unable to turn from the things of this world and giving in to what the world presents as a answer to the inward struggle.
Where is the fine line of accepting a lifestyle/idea and saying no to something that seeks to destroy all that God has planned for his people? When do we close our minds to what the world is offering and open our hearts to give what the world is missing?
As I said before, I don't claim to have all the answers and my walk with Christ is a daily development and an opportunity to grow. My pastor touched on this point very briefly Sunday when he said that the time for us to fight certain battles is coming and that there will come a time when it will be harder and harder to live as a Christian in this world. The only thing I disagree with is that the time has already come...it is just going to get more difficult as the days pass. There will come a time when we must choose and the time is here.
"Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy."- Harry Potter
All we can do is live and teach as Christ would and let Him take care of the rest. All we can do is live according to His Word and grow our own knowledge of Him. We should act in a way that supports the gospel.
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hop that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit."
1 Peter 3:15-18
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